Family and Friends
by Nameless Dreamer
Summary: *WIP* The sequel to In Search of Myself. Xander and Amy have gone to San Francisco to find Xander's parents. But a familiar face is already there stirring up trouble.
1. The More Things Change...

If your reading this for the first time I'd suggest you read my earlier story first (In Search of Myself) or you could be very lost.  This is a Xander centered story but anyone that's watched Buffy and Angel should know most of the major characters in here.

Disclaimer:  I own none of these characters so please don't sue me.  Last time I checked I have $132.45 in my checking account so it ain't worth it.

= Xander's personal thoughts (doing it in italics was driving me nuts)

Ch. 1 – The more things change...  (I'm calling my Union)

-----

(These events take place about six weeks after the end of In Search of Myself so let's say pre-season 6)

It's the middle of the night in what looks to be a locker room.  Suddenly, the door flies open and Xander comes racing through it.  He quickly looks around and pulls a large desk in front of the door he just came in.  Whoever was on the other side started ramming the door, trying to get in.  Xander braced himself against the desk to keep them out while trying to catch his breath.

You know it's times like this I wonder how in God's name I ever got into this mess.  It's not like I go looking for trouble but every place I've gone since I left Sunnydale there's something that pulls me in as if these people were just waiting for me and Amy to come fix things.  Let's see there was the evil Wicca in San Jose, the demon-worshipping cult in Sacramento, and now I'm in San Francisco and things ain't much better.  

I only came here for one reason.  All I want is to find my family is that too much to ask?  I'm not demanding a million dollars or Heidi Klum.  You would think the Powers That Be would leave me alone for just a little while, after all I saved the world not once but twice but no I *still* have to deal with the creatures that go bump in the night.  If that wasn't enough, I also have to sort out my incredibly strange love life.  I've got one girl who I think likes me and one who's already planning our wedding.  Of course I'm pretty sure I've managed to screw up my chances with both of them. 

The banging on the door gets louder as a woman on the other side yells "Let us in Xander!"

Did I also mention there's another girl who wants to make me into her eternally damned, undead vampire lover?  I guess you could say luck has not been on my side since I left Buffy and the others behind.  I'm seriously thinking of changing my name to Chance Harper and don't laugh because I'm not joking.

I've been thinking about this, for many moons now, and there's only one reason I can come up with as to why this is happening.  The Powers That Be are toying with me.  Yeah that's right, who's ever in charge of us good guys up there is getting his jollies by tormenting poor Xander Harris.  If I get out of this, and I'm starting to think that's a big if, the first thing I'm doing is seeing if there's any union rules concerning when I have to fight evil.  And if there isn't well I should make some 'cause let's face it this job would be a lot more appealing with a 401k, medical benefits and fixed hours.  Of course the cavalry is coming…too bad I told them to meet me at the other end of the building.  Maybe if I can hold out in here long enough to attract their attention. 

The door at the other end of the room flew open and two female vampires, who look slightly younger than Xander, make their way toward him.

Uh Xander locker rooms have two entrances you idiot! 

"Doh…"

Xander rushed them both.  He slammed one against a locker and was fighting off the other one while her partner was stunned.

However, without Xander bracing the desk his pursuers were able to get through the other door.  Four more girls came rushing in and overwhelmed him.  They held him against a wall, pinning his arms and legs.  The leader of these vampires came in at this point, happy her prize was intact.  She walked up to Xander and traced her finger down his body.  Xander thought she was trying to get a cheap thrill and didn't look pleased.

"I've finally got you.  Don't worry Xander in just a little while it'll be all over and we'll be together forever.  Aren't you just so happy?"

"Go to hell Harmony."  Xander told her with a big shit-eating grin.

"Fine I guess we'll just do this the hard way."

Xander flipped her the bird just before she knocked him out.  Harmony turned to her vampires and told them, "Bring him back to the hideout.  I wanna see what Mom says about my new plaything."

----

TBC

Ch. 2 is the actual beginning of the story so don't worry if this sounds strange, this takes place near the end.  It's just a teaser it'll all makes sense when we get there.  I'm going to split my time between this and a few other stories but I'll try to update this as much as I can.

Comments are always appreciated.


	2. Halfway There

Sorry to take so long getting back to this. The good news is I have a really good idea on where I want to go with this fic and I'm already working on the next part. With any luck I might have it up in a few days. Also this next section is a lot longer, almost five times the length of the first part. Oh yeah and if I have any time later on I'll post the revised version of 'In Search of Myself'.  
  
Part 2: Halfway There  
  
----  
  
Sacramento, CA – 2 weeks earlier  
  
"You ready to do this?"  
  
"I dunno. I mean I've said for so long how much I've waited for this day but…I just don't know if I can go through with it."  
  
The two people arguing were Xander Harris and Amy Madison.  
  
Both of them had spent the last six weeks traveling through California with a mutual goal: finding their parents.  
  
"Huh? You mean to tell me after all the hell we've gone through in this city you're just gonna give up? Look we're standing on your Dad's porch looking like idiots. If you won't go in there…"  
  
"Alright! Alright…there I knocked but I don't think anyone's here."  
  
Both of them had faced a lot of adversity and torment in their lives. Xander was forced to leave his old life behind after being accused of trying to destroy his high school with a bomb (Ironically, he was actually the one who stopped it from destroying the school.)  
  
Amy, a powerful witch, was forced to turn herself into a rat to escape dying at the hands of a paranoid mob and was thus stuck in that miserable state for over two years.  
  
"Give it a minute."  
  
"You said that last night too. Forgive me if I don't have faith."  
  
Both of them sometimes wondered if they ever would actually achieve their desires. After so much fighting just staying on top of things, neither of them really didn't know what to do when they reached the light at the end of the tunnel. For one of them, they had reached that point, and thus there was more aniexity than joy.  
  
"Now that was just mean."  
  
"Hey you left yourself open for that one."  
  
With the two of them arguing, neither of them noticed the door opening and the man standing in front of them. He looked pretty shocked.  
  
"Amy?"  
  
Amy stopped at hearing her name and turned back to the door. "Daddy?"  
  
After realizing this really was his little girl, Mr. Madison grabbed her and hugged her tight. "Amy. It's you! It's really you!"  
  
After a minute he let go of her and looked at her. "What happened to you? Where have you been all this time?"  
  
"It's a long story Dad. Can we come in?"  
  
----  
  
It was actually pretty easy finding Amy's Dad. He never left the company he worked for so it was only a matter of finding what satellite office he transferred to.  
  
The three of them sat down in the living room and Amy spent the next hour telling her father what happened to her. Two years ago she had used a spell to turn herself into a rat to escape being burned at the stake. The problem was nobody knew how to change her back until a few months ago. She was eventually returned to normal by Glory, a rather nasty Hellgod who enslaved her and made her suffer for weeks if she didn't do Glory's bidding.  
  
Amy also told him how she was rescued a few weeks later by Xander and Buffy. Since then, both of them have been looking for her father and Xander's parents as well.  
  
Amy's Dad just sat there in shock trying to accept what his daughter told him. He hated magic ever since his vindictive x-wife abused it and nearly ruined his daughter's life.  
  
Of course the fact that his daughter was following in her mother's footsteps and practiced magic as well didn't make him feel much better. But at least it sounded like his daughter had gotten some semblance of control over it and seemed to be using it for something other than achieving selfish goals. He could tell that Amy had changed, her expression showed someone who had been exposed to the worst possible uses of witchcraft and the wicca had made it clear she never wanted to experience that again.  
  
After Amy finished her story, her father went over to the bar and promptly poured himself a drink. "That is one…interesting story you told me honey. If I didn't already know about your mother's obsessive streak with magic I'd probably have both of you committed. Sweetie I'm just happy to have you back, that's all that matters to me."  
  
The two Madisons hugged after that, Xander just silently watched from the couch with a smile on his face. He wondered if his parents would act like that when – or if – he ever found them. So far he had no luck in San Jose and Sacramento but there still a lot of places in California left, and he was determined to search every last one until he found them.  
  
----  
  
Later on, Amy's dad offered to let them stay with him for as long as they wanted. By now it was getting late and Amy was taking a long, hot shower before going to sleep.  
  
That left the men alone. Mr. Madison decided he wanted to know more about Amy's mysterious friend, who was at the moment making up the couch to sleep on.  
  
"Xander, right? Can I talk to you for a second?"  
  
The young man looked somewhat ansy that Amy's Dad wanted to speak with him. "Oh uh sure! What's up?"  
  
"The two of you looked pretty ragged when you showed up. Did something happen?"  
  
Xander squirmed uncomfortably in his seat. "Yeah. Yesterday when we arrived here we rented out a hotel room. Turns out there was a cult fanatic in the next room about to summon a demon. Lucky us, right? So to make a long story short what was supposed to be a relaxing evening turned out to be one hellish fight."  
  
Then he asked the young man. "You guys were together? Are you and Amy?"  
  
Xander quickly cut him off, "Uh no. We're just friends."  
  
Mr. Madison just smirked. "Uh huh. You know when I was your age I was 'Just Friends' with Amy's mother."  
  
Xander wasn't lying to the man. Over the last few weeks, Amy and Xander discovered how well their sarcastic personalities complimented each other. Xander thought there might be some chemistry there but he didn't how Amy felt. Additionally, he didn't know how long he'd be searching for his family and the last thing he wanted to do was wreck another friendship. That had happened in Sunnydale with Buffy and Willow two years ago with disasterous consequences.  
  
Not only that, but he felt every time he got serious with another girl – Alonna and Cordelia for example – something happened to Xander or his lover. And it was never good.  
  
"Oh trust me, just friends." Was Xander's reply.  
  
"I'll take your word for it." Amy's Dad seemed satisfied with Xander's response. He had something else to say, "Can I ask you to do something for me?"  
  
"Shoot."  
  
"Xander, I lost my daughter twice. First when my psycho ex-wife managed to get full custody of Amy. Then when she disappeared after apparently turning herself into a rat." He closed his eyes. All those years of not knowing what happened to Amy took their toll on him.  
  
"I don't think I could handle losing her a third time. She's made it abundantly clear she is going with you whether I want her to or not. I've accepted that Amy is old enough to make that decision on her own. But please, make sure nothing happens to my baby girl."  
  
After a moment, Xander told Mr. Madison, "I will do everything I can to keep her safe."  
  
Xander had lost so much over the last few years he only had two things left: his friends and his promises.  
  
"Xander. I can tell you something though. The feeling I had when I found out Amy was alive this afternoon…if you're parents are anything like me, they'll be estatic to find out that you're alive."  
  
That was supposed to make Xander feel better, but it didn't. It just made him reflect on his parents.  
  
All Xander said was, "Well that's…that's the million dollar question."  
  
"Excuse me? Xander I don't understand." Mr. Madison didn't know what he was talking about.  
  
Xander got comfortable and very calmly explained his last statement. "It's like this: my folks weren't exactly what you'd call 'Parents of the Year' material. Around the time I hit high school, something changed. They weren't bad or mean or anything like that it just felt like they both didn't care anymore…it was as if they were both…"  
  
"Disinterested? Distant?" Amy's Father guessed.  
  
Xander snorted. "Distant. Yeah that's the word I was looking for. It seemed like I was on my own. Every question I asked them just caused more problems than it solved. That's why I grew so attached to Buffy and the Scoobies. They were my surrogate family until my life fell apart two years ago."  
  
Mr. Madison could hardly believe how mellow Xander was about this. The boy continued telling his story, "When I came back to Sunnydale a few weeks ago, the people who bought my parent's house had told me they reconciled their problems and that they were having a second kid – my parents think I'm dead along with most everyone else. So I figured I needed to find out for myself if what those people said about my family were true."  
  
"Xander, I just hope you're not setting yourself up to be let down." The older man told Xander.  
  
That got another emotionless chuckle out of Xander. "Oh don't I know that. I've only asked myself that about a gazillion times since I left with Amy. I guess you could figure I'm just preparing myself the worst possible scenario. That way if that's how they really are I won't be disappointed. You know I told my best friend – guy by the name of Charles Gunn – that I had to do this because if I didn't I'd be second guessing myself for the rest of my life."  
  
"Xander if it makes you feel any better, you'll always be welcomed here." Amy's father told the young man in an attempt to make Xander feel better.  
  
"Thanks. I appreciate it."  
  
----  
  
The next morning the two young adults decided to leave. They both agreed to try looking in San Francisco next. They loaded Xander's Mustang to leave around mid-morning.  
  
"Amy!" Her father was saying goodbye in the driveway. He handed her a rolled up wad of money. "Take this. And if you ever need anything, don't be afraid to call."  
  
"Thanks Dad."  
  
They embraced and her father held out his hand to Xander. "It was nice meeting you Xander. I hope you find what you're looking for."  
  
"I hope so too." Was all Xander said as he shook his hand.  
  
----  
  
The Next Day  
  
Amy was having a hard time believing Xander after they arrived in the Bay City. "You actually found a good apartment?"  
  
"Oh hell yes! It's great! It has everything we ever wanted! It's even furnished."  
  
"Uh huh."  
  
"Okay it's two beds, a couch and a TV but I managed to get free cable out of the landlord."  
  
The wicca rolled her eyes. "What would I ever do without you?"  
  
Amy did have to give Xander credit. The apartment wasn't a roach motel (she really didn't mind rats for obvious reasons.) and it was somewhat big. There was even furniture, albeit very shotty furniture, but for two Demon Hunters it was bordering on luxury. The money Amy's father gave her would cover the rent for over a month.  
  
"There has to be some catch."  
  
Xander just looked very innocent, "What you don't trust my wit and charm?"  
  
Amy just kept staring at him.  
  
"Well the landlord is convinced there's some type of evil creature in the basement so…"  
  
Amy threw up her hands "Great we'll just put that on our To Do List right after Get Money and Hungry: Must Have Food."  
  
"Hey don't forget 'Look for Xander's family.'" He added  
  
"And that."  
  
"So Amy got any ideas on how to find my folks if they're in this town? How about a locater spell or…ooohhh I got it! You could use some magic artifact on the night of a full moon. That always works on TV! What'd ya say?"  
  
"This'll work too." Amy said as she threw him a phonebook.  
  
"What? No magic?"  
  
"Remember last time I did a spell for you? Every female in Sunnydale wanted to ravage and/or kill you."  
  
Xander picked up the phonebook, "Hmm…point taken. It'll do."  
  
Amy went into her room and started unpacking her few possessions while Xander flipped through the white pages.  
  
"Xander you shouldn't get your hopes up. We've been looking through California for weeks and there's no sign of your folks. Xander?"  
  
Amy walked back into the living room when he didn't answer. "Xander? What's wrong?"  
  
Xander pointed at the phone book, "It's them."  
  
"Are you sure?"  
  
"Yeah look here. Anthony and Jessica Harris. I mean…this could be it. Toss me my cell phone."  
  
Amy tossed him the phone and he dialed the number. After a few rings he got real excited and mouthed 'It's them'. Amy sat next to the phone and listened in as she heard a woman on an answering machine. After the beep Xander hung up the phone.  
  
"Xander you didn't leave a message?"  
  
"What am I supposed to say? Hi this is your son. I've been alive the last two years and hey call me back sometime."  
  
"So what're you thinking?"  
  
"We've got an address. Maybe I should go say hi."  
  
----  
  
That evening Xander and Amy drove to his parents' house. Problem was nobody was there and inside the house was pitch black.  
  
Xander was still optimistic though, "Maybe there's a spare key somewhere."  
  
After they searched the front of the house for a few minutes Amy told him, "Nothing. No fake rocks, nothing under the mat or in the light. Any other ideas?"  
  
Xander pulled out a few lockpicks and started fiddling with the lock.  
  
"What're you doing?" Amy asked.  
  
"When you live with a gang in L.A. for two years you start to pick up on some of the stuff they do. It's like what Eddie Murphy said: I fractured an occasion law or two back in my day."  
  
A second later a clicking noise is heard and the door swings open. Xander holds the door open for Amy with a sarcastic grin.  
  
"You're too kind." She says sarcastically.  
  
"Yeah I hear that a lot."  
  
After fumbling in the dark they found the light switch. The house was a mess. Dishes were in the sink, and clothes were all over the floor upstairs. It looked like someone left in a hurry.  
  
Amy wandered around the house while Xander was looking over several picture frames set on an end table in the living room. He picked up one of the frames. It had both of his parents holding an infant girl. She had curly black hair and was wearing a yellow flower dress.  
  
By now Amy had come back into the living room and was looking over Xander's shoulder. "That's your parents?" She asked.  
  
"Yeah. And I guess that's my baby sister."  
  
"Well there was what looked to be a little girl's bedroom back there."  
  
God they look so happy or at least it looks like it. Figures…it takes my 'death' for my folks to come together.   
  
While Xander was in such deep thought Amy played the messages on his parents' answering machine on the other side of the room.  
  
"Hi this is Dave from Bay Area Heating. You had an appointment for the installation of your new furnace today and nobody was home. Please call me back at 555-4737 to clear this up. Thanks."  
  
The second message was just a hang-up dialtone.  
  
That must've been when I called. Xander thought to himself.  
  
The last message played after that. "This is Dana at Bleecker Street Day Care Center. Mrs. Harris, we got your call earlier and I'm sorry I couldn't get back to you before you left. I've made a note to the person in charge that Jennifer won't be back at the day care center until you come back from vacation on the sixteenth."  
  
Xander joined Amy at the machine. "Well my timing is once again perfect. I'm in the right place at the wrong time." He said dryly.  
  
"Well we got twelve days to kill. Guess I could always catch up on my soap operas." Amy replied. "Hey look on the bright side at least you know your sister's name now. Oh and hey I found all this stuff down in the basement. C'mon!"  
  
She grabbed his hand and led him to a corner in the basement full of boxes. "Look inside!"  
  
Xander opened up one the boxes and looked inside. He could hardly believe what he was looking at. "This is all my stuff when I was a kid."  
  
He filtered through more of the box. "Oh wow…I mean…this is great my old Voltron action figure! Yeah I was the coolest kid in first grade because I got all five lions before everyone else."  
  
Xander was having a moment of nostalgia. He was rummaging through mementos from a time when the only vampire he knew was in his Castlevania game for NES, which happened to be in another box with all his other old video games.  
  
First vampire I ever killed. All my old stuff is in here. They didn't throw it out…   
  
If he could, Xander would've tried to take all his old possessions with him. For now, Xander decided to leave his stuff as is. He spent the last few weeks looking for it, he could wait a little longer to claim this. There were more important things he wanted.  
  
"Aims, I'm just gonna leave this stuff here for now."  
  
"You sure?" The wicca asked him.  
  
"Positive. As much as I hate it I guess now we just sit tight till they come back." He sounded a little depressed.  
  
Amy tried to console him, "Hey look on the bright side. You found them! No more searching, no more questions."  
  
"Yeah I guess it's something." He remarked.  
  
Something was still bugging the young man. "There's something else. Everything's a mess in here. I mean…it feels like they dropped everything and rushed out."  
  
"Why would you think they'd do that?"  
  
"Aims I have no clue. But I'd be lying if I didn't say it was bugging me."  
  
"Well what more can we do here?"  
  
"You're right I know." He paused for a moment. "Let's get out of here."  
  
Xander had just taken a big step closer to putting his life back together. He was anxious to see his family again.  
  
Jennifer Harris. I have a sister, I have an honest to God sister Was all Xander kept thinking about the rest of the night.  
  
----  
  
If Xander had one guilty pleasure it was sleep. The next day was no exception as he didn't even show any signs of life until close to noon. He finally got out bed about an hour and a half later.  
  
Doing nothing for two weeks while I wait for my folks to come back. Heh, a man could get used to this.   
  
Amy was killing time in front of the T.V. as Xander walked around the apartment.  
  
"Ya know Amy I might be a huge television freak but even I can't watch this stuff." He told his friend.  
  
"Hey this is *quality*. When my mother took over my body this was the only thing that kept me sane."  
  
She looked back at the screen and pointed at it a minute later. "C'mon Chloe can't you tell Brady loves you!"  
  
Xander just shook his head, "Oh brother. Hey I'm going to get some coffee you want anything?"  
  
"Cappuccino's good."  
  
"No prob. Be back in a few."  
  
After Xander left, Amy got up to go the bathroom. When she came back, a news bulletin had interrupted the soap opera she was watching.  
  
"…this is the third death in less than two months at John F. Kennedy High School. The victim 16 year old David Patten was found dead early this morning with severe tissue damage in the neck and shoulder area. This comes just two nights after the reported assault on a women who was picking up her daughter at Bleecker Street Day Care Center."  
  
----  
  
(Cut to Xander in line at the coffee shop watching the same report)  
  
"There were no eye witnesses during either incident. Police are investigating this and other disappearances in the area but chances of finding any solid leads are slim at best. This is Channel 5 News."  
  
Xander tried to stay clam as the report flashed by but he wasn't fooling himself. By all guesses his sister's day care center had been attacked by a vampire.  
  
The rather attractive blond behind the counter yelled, "Sir? You gonna order or what?"  
  
The young man noticed he made it to the front of the line. He quickly ordered and after getting his coffee asked, "There a computer here?"  
  
The girl nodded toward the corner of the coffee shop then asked him. "Say I get out of here in an hour. You wouldn't wanna go have a drink sometim – Hey!"  
  
Xander had been so deep in thought he didn't even notice the cashier was flirting with him. He just grabbed his coffee and dashed over to the computer like nothing happened.  
  
He accessed the San Francisco Examiner website and pulled up the news archives to find information on the day care center attack.  
  
Xander was hoping that he was overreacting. After awhile he found what he was looking for.  
  
"Let's see…" He started reading parts of the article out loud. "Another attack occurred on Bleecker Street at around seven o'clock last night. Police have no clues to the perpetratior was…C'mon! Tell me who the hell was attacked!"  
  
But when he finally found out just who was attacked farther down the article, he nearly had a stroke.  
  
I *hate* being right.   
  
He printed out a hard copy and rushed back to the apartment.  
  
----  
  
"Xander, where did you go for that coffee Sunnydale?" Amy asked him after Xander arrived back at the apartment an hour later. "Hey this news report was on earlier…"  
  
"I saw." Xander interrupted. He pulled out the article he printed out and showed his friend.  
  
"Turns out it's not the only time this happened. I went on the computer at the coffee house to check some news archives, a lot of girls have been disappearing in the area."  
  
"Just girls?"  
  
"Yeah. This was the first guy they found dead. It's all in this news article. There's even one that talks about a suspect's description was a teenager on PCP. Gee doesn't that sound familiar?"  
  
"And it's all going on right across the street from your sister's day care center. That's…unsettling." The wicca remarked as she scanned the article.  
  
"To say the least." Xander pointed farther down on the paper. "The woman attacked two days ago picking up her daughter was Jessica Harris."  
  
Amy was shocked. "Your Mom? You're serious aren't you?"  
  
He pointed farther down the paper showing his mother's name. I wish I wasn't. That must be why they were in such a rush to leave.   
  
"Hey Amy, feel like taking a ride with me?"  
  
----  
  
Xander and Amy arrived at the school just as class was letting out. J.F.K. High School was swarming with kids running all over the place toward cars and buses.  
  
The two of them were parked half a block away. Xander was staring at the school. Amy was just leaning against the exterior of the car relaxing.  
  
"This is bad." Xander told Amy. "This is really bad."  
  
"Xander I know you're upset but what can we do? There's cops swarming this place we can't get in there to stop a high school bully let alone a vampire."  
  
Xander was about to reply when he noticed an older man and woman. The woman was walking down the street with a determined look and the man followed her. It looked like he was pleading with her.  
  
"Mrs. Caleo please be reasonable! We don't have enough people on staff as it is."  
  
"No! I don't care how much money you'll pay it's just not safe here and I won't teach at this school any longer!"  
  
Xander was watching them argue and the gears in his head were started to move.  
  
There's a staff shortage? Really?   
  
"Oh no. You've got that look again." Amy could tell Xander was up to something.  
  
"Look?"  
  
"Yeah the one where your corny ideas get us into some deep ca-ca."  
  
Xander turned to his partner in crime but Amy cut him off as she already had an idea what he was about to say. "Lemme guess. You wanna get close to the school, right? Uh Xander, how? If you recall, we never graduated high school. What with me being a rat and you being legally dead."  
  
"Hey trust me. I think I might know how to fix that."  
  
----  
  
TBC 


	3. Back to School

Well I finally got the next part done. Real life reared its ugly head so I haven't much time to work on this lately. So thanks to everyone who waited patiently for this.  
  
----  
  
Part 3 – Back to School  
  
  
  
Later that day  
  
"Xander let me see if I understand this right." The voice talking to Xander on the phone belonged to Willow Rosenburg, his childhood friend who lived in Sunnydale. "You're in San Francisco and you found your parents' house."  
  
"Right." Was all Xander said on the other end.  
  
"They aren't there because they ran away after being attacked by a vampire."  
  
"Yep."  
  
"You know you're starting to sound like Oz with these one-syllable replies." She mused.  
  
"And has anyone ever told you you're a trouble magnet?"  
  
"Several times Will. Several times. It's like the Hellmouth's following me around the Sunshine State. I mean with all the bad guys Aims and I are running into we shoulda just stayed in Sunnydale."  
  
"Actually it's been pretty quiet here since that fun time we had with Glory. Worst thing that happened was this demon biker gang last week."  
  
"Ouch. Sounded like that was fun."  
  
"Yeah it was touch and go there for awhile but nothing Buffy and Faith couldn't deal with."  
  
"Faith? She's still there? How is the raven haired Slayer getting along with you guys?"  
  
"Oh don't say raven around her." Willow said in between laughs. "That's Spike's new pet name for her and Faith can't stand it. Other than that though she's not too bad. It seems like she knows the difference now between when to get wild and when to get serious."  
  
Willow was still surprised Faith re-integrated so quickly into the Scoobies again. That was a good thing, considering the Wicca would've made Faith pay if the black haired Slayer did anything to hurt the people Willow cared about.  
  
"Now Xander don't get me wrong, I love hearing from you but why did you call?"  
  
After stopping Glory from causing Armageddon, Xander and the core Scoobies – Buffy, Willow, Cordelia and Giles – had reconciled their friendships to an extent and extracted from their friend a promise to keep in touch. He kept it and over the last few weeks Xander had called from time to time. Usually it was just to say hi or tell them what he was up to. But this was the first time he wanted Willow in particular, as every other time he usually called the Magic Box or Angel Investigations when he wanted to chat with his old buddies.  
  
This time he specifically called Willow's dorm.  
  
Xander explained his master plan to his friend. "See here's the thing. Right across the street from where my Mom was attacked there's a school where most of the deaths took place. I'd love to get in there but – problem is – I don't exactly have any qualifications to work at a school…'cept maybe a janitor."  
  
"And this involves me how?" Willow asked somewhat curiously.  
  
"Well considering I can't put 'Demon Hunter' on a resume I was hoping my favorite computer hacker could make up some credentials for me and Amy that would withstand a background check. Nothing major, something decent would be great."  
  
She groaned, "Oh boy. That's gonna be a lot of work. You're going to owe me *big time* Xander."  
  
"Huh? How much work?"  
  
The red head elaborated, "I can't just flick a switch and make you go from dead to alive. It'll take me all night to get some kind of working resume up for the both of you."  
  
"So telling you that you're my bestest friend in the whole wide world isn't going to work?"  
  
That got a laugh out of her but it still didn't change her mind. "Tell you what: I've been wanting shake the bugs out of a teleportation spell I've used a few times…"  
  
The spell Willow was referring to was the one she used on Glory in Sunnydale Hospital several months ago. Not only did the Wicca not know where the intended destination was, it sapped a lot of her strength.  
  
"…and I remember Amy having the book I need to get it working right. Get it to me and I'll make sure you guys have something good."  
  
"Oh boy…". He knew getting Amy to loan one of her magic books was like trying to take a bone away from a Doberman.  
  
No in fact I'd rather try the dog than getting one of her books…   
  
"Okay…I guess I'll get it somehow. It'll be in the mail tomorrow."  
  
"Thanks Xander. Where should I mail the resumes to?"  
  
"Actually there's a drug store with a fax machine down the street. Could you send it there tomorrow morning?"  
  
That was good enough for her. "No problem just e-mail me the number. And Xander, it was good to hear from you again."  
  
"You too. Talk to you soon."  
  
----  
  
Xander was right about one thing, it took quite a bit of bitching and complaining before Amy agreed to loan that spell book out. He couldn't believe how many times he heard 'If she messes up one damn page' and 'I swear this better be worth it."  
  
The young man desperately hoped that 'selective forgetting' he was so good at in high school still worked.  
  
Still, everything went as planned that morning. Willow faxed over two believable resumes for Xander and Amy early the next morning.  
  
Amy went over her 'qualifications' in the drug store. "Wow I'm impressed! I mean she really did a good job! Hey Xand what'd it say on yours?"  
  
"Uh…let's see I have a degree in…Physical Education?!? That's not funny! Gym?!? Do I look retarded or something?" He pointed at Amy and gave her a glare. "Don't answer that!"  
  
The Wicca lost all self-control and started laughing hysterically at Xander's temper tantrum, dropping all her papers onto the ground.  
  
One of them didn't have much on it. Maybe a few lines at most. Xander picked it up and sure enough it was a note from Willow.  
  
  
  
Xander,  
  
Hope you guys like the job I did. I get the feeling you won't like the phys ed. thing. Well you pretty much didn't do well in any subject so I had to make ado with what I could think of. ;)  
  
Willow  
  
  
  
Oh yeah…if it takes the rest of my life I will get Willow for that one.   
  
Twenty minutes later they were both walking up the steps to J.F.K. High School. Xander had managed to con the principal into an interview. He figured they must be more desperate for hired help then they thought.  
  
"I still can't believe this has gone without a problem so far." He mused.  
  
"Don't jinx it Xander. We're not in the clear yet." Amy was smiling but she wasn't about to declare this a success before it even began.  
  
"Hey you watch. It'll all work out and we'll get away with this scott free! Now whatd'ya got to say about that?"  
  
"He made me do it your Honor." She deadpanned. "What do we do if this doesn't work?"  
  
"You think I know? I'm making this up as I go along."  
  
----  
  
City Coroner's Office  
  
You can see a attractive looking man about thirty or so in a white lab coat reciting an autopsy report to somebody else in the room. "Let's see: Name of the deceased is seventeen year old David Patten. Official cause of death was from severe loss of blood and heavy tissue damage to the neck area from two puncture wounds.  
  
"So unofficially, we have another Nick Knight in town."  
  
"Uh no. He a good guy?"  
  
"He was?"  
  
"Yep."  
  
"Okay another…uh…LaCroix?"  
  
"Yeah that sounds a little better. And this happened how much in L.A. Miss Lochley?"  
  
The woman he referring to was in fact Detective Kate Lochley, now of the S.F.P.D. "A little too much Matt. Any new leads this time?"  
  
"Nah. I was called in to the high school when they found this one. Suspect didn't leave a damn thing on the stiff. I checked at the scene while they were taking David on his free ride here. Came up with nadda."  
  
Whosever doing this isn't making many mistakes. Kate thought to herself. Last year Angel had revealed to the cop that vampires did indeed exist. During her time with the L.A.P.D. she became obsessed with them after they killed her father. Her obsession destroyed her career and she nearly committed suicide if Angel hadn't revived her at the last second.  
  
And so with her life in the City of Angels ruined, she managed to pull some strings with what contacts she still had left and gotten a detective position in San Francisco.  
  
The problem was, her reputation had preceded her even here. So Kate kept a very low profile those first few months she after she started with the S.F.P.D. and did everything by the book. Eventually, the jokes and rumors about her stopped.  
  
Then the rash of killings started at the high school. She couldn't believe how dense the other investigators were. Though conversely if somebody came up to her two years ago and told her that the murderer was a vampire she would've had the person committed.  
  
It was then that she realized something. As much as Kate wished to escape the world Angel had showed her, it was a one-way trip. Once you knew about that, you couldn't go back to the blissful ignorance you once knew.  
  
And Kate's conscious wouldn't let her live with it if she did nothing to try and stop it.  
  
She had tried a stakeout at the high school but came up with nothing. If anything, the vampire or vampires behind it were patient.  
  
Ironically Kate only knew one other person who was convinced vampires were real.  
  
Matt Carsen was a county coroner in the Bay City. He seemed to be the only one of them that put two and two together once the killings started. It kind of helped that he was a huge fan of the show 'Forever Knight'. That meant his obsession with vampires actually gave him a realistic view on what might really be going on with this case.  
  
Kate quietly sounded him out about it after he mused his guesses about the killer while drinking one night with Kate and a few other cops. Once she was sure Matt was being serious and not bullshitting her, she told him that they did indeed exist and separated the real from his TV show.  
  
She wasn't exactly sure whether Matt was nervous or thrilled that they were real.  
  
The two of them had been working to try to find some clue that could break this case wide open but so far nothing had shown up.  
  
"Hey Vetter snap out of it!" Kate groaned. Vetter was Matt's nickname for her. It was taken from Tracy Vetter, the only female cop on 'Forever Knight' who knew about the existence of vampires.  
  
"You know it drives me nuts when you call me that."  
  
He smiled. "I know. So back to the problem at hand, any new ideas on how to stop our friends?"  
  
Kate shook head. "Not a clue. We have a couple of people at the school and I've been checking out some of the local hangouts. I guess we just have to wait and try to get lucky."  
  
"Well best of luck to you Kate. If anything turns up I'll call."  
  
----  
  
Xander and Amy were both being interviewed by the principal at J.F.K. He was a fifty-year-old portly man named Kyle Rhis.  
  
Amy had applied for a spot in the library and Xander went for an open position as a hall monitor (He wasn't about to go along with Willow's little joke).  
  
They told Rhis that they just moved here to be Xander's parents and were looking for work. It was close enough to the truth to sound plausible.  
  
The older leaned against his desk after asking the two the standard interview questions over the past fifteen minutes. "Well you two seemed to be good enough for this. One question though, with everything going here why in God's name would the two of you want to work here?"  
  
I'm looking for a vampire that attacked my mother and sister last week. Then I'm going to shove a rotting piece of wood into the bastard's chest and watch him turn to dust. The young man thought to himself. He almost wondered if the people would believe Xander's story with the way the last corpse turned up.  
  
"I…uh…guess you could say we need the money. We figured with everyone leaving you'd hire us. Besides a lot of weird stuff happened at our old high school" Amy answered.  
  
"Good point." The principal conceded. "I did a little background check on Sunnydale High School. According to what I read, rumors went around the last two principals were both eaten. Strange, huh? Well all this seems to be in order. You're both hired and you can start A.S.A.P. Good Enough?"  
  
"Yeah that'd be great." Xander told him.  
  
"Excellent. Well lemme tell you two a little bit about this place. J.F.K. was built about thirty-five years ago. In '83 they decided to build a middle and grade school on campus as well. So these little shits can do K through 12 on the same location."  
  
"That's convenient."  
  
"Yeah, tell me about it. Thing is with all the bad press over these murders, people are on edge. That means teachers and students are afraid to come here. Rumors are flying around too. Believe me when I tell you it's not good."  
  
Just then Rhis secretary walked. "Excuse me sir. Someone from the school board is here to see you."  
  
"Ah great. Xander, Amy would you two excuse me for a moment."  
  
After he walked out, Xander let out a massive breath in relief. "This might actually work."  
  
Amy was almost convinced. "Yeah they'll actually pay us. We might be able to stop living on Wendy's ninety-nine cent value meal."  
  
"How very true and hey you'll be in the library. Maybe we should call Giles and ask him if you could borrow some tweed outfits."  
  
The Wicca shuddered as Rhis walked back into his office. "God I hate the school board. Anyways, let me take you both to around campus."  
  
He showed them both around the buildings at the High School. They made their way over to the yard on campus and stopped for a minute.  
  
"Xander, why don't you hang around here a little while I bring Amy over to the library. You'll probably be working out here too when the kids are out for lunch."  
  
"Uh okay." Xander told Rhis.  
  
He started thinking to himself after they left. Me and Aims'll stop the asshole doing this. Then I'm going to finally see my folks when they come back. This *is* going to work.   
  
Since Xander was staring off into his own world. He didn't even notice the young woman standing behind him until she said something.  
  
"Xander Harris. Aren't you supposed to be dead?"  
  
That's not Amy….oh crap! Xander froze. Only somebody from Sunnydale, or a handful of people from L.A., would've known that and both towns were half a state away.  
  
He slowly turned around figuring his plan was being shot to hell. There was sweat pouring down his forehead as he faced her.  
  
"Well well. It really is you."  
  
Xander stared at her for a second trying to place this stranger. "Wait a sec. I know you don't I?"  
  
----  
  
TBC 


End file.
